Active grill shutters selectively open apertures in a vehicle grill to facilitate fluid communication of an engine compartment with ambient surroundings of a vehicle. For example, certain driving conditions may call for restricting front end airflow when maximum cooling capacity is not needed. By closing the active grill shutter(s), front end airflow is greatly reduced.
When a leak in the air conditioning system is present, the lack of front end airflow resulting from the closed active grill shutter will reduce air circulation within the engine compartment. For example, during a crash or any other event causing a sudden loss of refrigerant from the air conditioning system, such as running over a foreign object, a pothole, or if a foreign object such as gravel, stones, or other debris strike parts of the refrigerant system such as the condenser, coolant may be suddenly leaked into the engine bay and/or from the vehicle. Leaking refrigerant may result in a strong odor, and in some cases may be a safety risk, e.g., if the refrigerant is flammable. While active grill features in some vehicles provide an active grill feature that responds to certain driving events, known approaches do not address the above safety concerns, e.g., after a sudden loss of refrigerant. Moreover, other fluid systems of the vehicle also typically do not have mechanisms for detecting a sudden loss of fluid, e.g., vehicle fuel, brake fluid, transmission fluid, etc., that is undesirable.
Accordingly, there is a need for a vehicle that addresses the above disadvantages.